A fight everyone loses

But with alternative dispute resolution, battles between companies no longer have to be painful, costly and futile, writes Mark Paul

IN 1700, the Ouzel Galley sailed back up the river Liffey in Dublin after a five-year Mary Celeste-like absence. The ship had been presumed lost and insurance paid out, but it had been commandeered by pirates. The captive crew managed to escape, and sailed the vessel back to Ireland with its hold packed with the pirates’ booty.

The first arbitration act had been introduced just two years before and the process was used to sort out who owned what on the boat. But it is not just high-seas piracy victims for whom alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can be of use.

Every year, thousands of disputes involving small business owners and entrepreneurs wend their way through the legal system at a painfully slow pace, only to be settled on the steps of the court. According to legal experts, methods of ADR that avoid litigation and court cases usually produce better results